Sydney, May 8: Sydney’s Coogee Bay Hotel is poised for a major transformation following the approval of its redevelopment plans by the Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel.
This milestone comes after an extensive four-year process involving design, planning, stakeholder discussions, community consultations, and mediation with Randwick City Council.
The panel granted a Deferred Commencement Consent, meaning the development consent will activate after resolving a noise management plan with the council.
Significant modifications to the original plans, submitted in July 2021, include reducing the building’s height and bulk, omitting a proposed supermarket, and enhancing urban form and amenity.
These changes have notably minimized view loss, as acknowledged by the panel.
Chris Cheung, Managing Director of the Coogee Bay Hotel, expressed his enthusiasm about the project: “We are happy to be finally moving forward and excited to deliver a renewed Coogee Bay Hotel that will reinvigorate the Precinct. This significant 8500 square metre site is in the heart of Coogee, provides a gateway to the ocean front, and offers excellent access to services and public transport. As members of the community for the past 30 years, we understand the local environment and believe our plans will better integrate the hotel within the community and reinvigorate the entire site. The proposal will enhance the heritage elements of the hotel building, upgrade its accommodation offering, create a wider range of entertainment, dining options and public meeting spaces, and create a more family friendly environment. Re-casting the Coogee Bay Hotel as a more family friendly place will improve social outcomes, add value to local business, boost the local economy and complement the character of the local area.”
The project will involve the demolition of existing buildings and the construction of a new three-storey building adjacent to the beer garden, adding 13 hotel rooms for a total of 31.
It also includes building a five to six-storey shop top housing with 58 dwellings, 11 retail spaces, an internal laneway off Coogee Bay Road, and a basement parking facility for 158 vehicles, along with subdivision, landscaping, and associated works.
The development consent is conditional on creating a Precinct Noise Masterplan, agreed upon with Randwick City Council, to effectively manage and mitigate noise and ensure an appropriate level of amenity for residents.
Discussions on the redevelopment between the hotel owners and Randwick City Council began in 2019, leading to an 18-month mediation process in the Land and Environment Court that resulted in the grant of the Development Consent.
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